CENTURIES-OLD ROMBLON CATHEDRAL RECTORY GUTTED BY FIRE
Dateline Kamuning:
A fire ripped
through the centuries-old rectory of St. Joseph Cathedral in Romblon diocese
recently, destroying canonical books and other important documents.
Bishop
Narciso Abellana of Romblon said the fire, which broke out in the early morning
of May 27, razed down almost everything except the structure’s old stone
pillars.
“It is,
indeed, a tragedy… All the canonical books and other records were turned to
ashes,” Abellana said in a statement released May 31.
The rectory,
which also housed the parish office, was declared a national cultural treasure
by the National Museum of the Philippines.
It also
played host to the temporary museum of the diocese, keeping several religious
artifacts from the different parishes.
“Our link to
the past was eaten by fire,” he lamented.
Amid plans to
rebuild the convent, the bishop also made a public appeal for generosity that
will help them reconstruct the rectory.
He
particularly asked the faithful to support the second collection to be
conducted in all Sunday Masses this whole month June for the project.
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